Masterchef master idea

05 May, 2010 by
IF

Press release from Well Above

Recently Fremantle Media had a unique opportunity with their hit show Masterchef to provide a customised in-house production solution.

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FremantleMedia’s Nick Parker explained, “With the scale of Masterchef we needed everyone to be able to view what was going on. Central to this requirement was a really good multiviewer. We needed a system which was versatile, compact, user friendly and powerful and we looked over many solutions on the market. We spoke to Magna Systems and they suggested the Miranda Kaleido-X16. The X-16 was a natural choice. With dual head and dual HD-SDI output, a very simple and powerful user interface and the switched HD-SDI output we could not have asked for more. We can scale the system up as required and add features, including audio, as the shows get more complex. We can also reconfigure as we go.”

Commenting on the usefulness and flexibility of the X-16 Parker added, “With a show where camera numbers change frequently, sometimes we have 4 cameras and sometimes we have up to 10 cameras, the camera assists quickly plug in the cables. Then it’s just a simple right click or button shortcut on the remote panel to load the multi-camera layout. This is a real time saver and removes the need for an engineer to run the multiviewer on a daily basis.”

According to Parker, for Masterchef the requirement was, “A studio in a box. So that’s exactly what we built.” He said. “At the heart of the box is the Miranda X-16 dual head Kaleido multiviewer. With other systems we would have had an over complicated task of trying to extend DVI which then involved splitters and distribution methods which were costly and not very efficient. The decision was made to simply take the native HD-SDI 1080i signal and distribute that to up to 8 screens around the studio and production areas. With some up to 200 metres away from the control room having the HD-SDI option has been indispensable.”

Masterchef and its production have been a great success and Parker concluded, “FremantleMedia is a very busy company even on a technical level and I’m delighted to say my team have had zero down time with the Miranda Kaleido X-16. It’s a great system and for future multiviewers we wouldn't look any further than Miranda. Magna Systems have been great! David Clemesha and his team have provided excellent support even lending us gear in the development stage of the system.”